Standard 9 – Duplication

Standard 9 relates to Section B: 1.1, 2.1, 2.2 and 3.1 of the National course document template.

As accredited VET courses are developed to meet vocational skill requirements not already covered in nationally endorsed VET training packages, ASQA cannot accredit or renew a course if the proposed course outcomes are already covered by a training package.

Standard 9 requires the course owner to make sure that the proposed course does not duplicate either the title or the outcomes of an existing training package, accredited course or skill set.

Duplication with existing accredited courses

It is possible that another VET accredited course may have already been developed, which provides similar outcomes to your proposed course. You can search for the title and owner of existing courses on the National Training Register: training.gov.au.

If a similar VET accredited course already exists, this does not necessarily prevent accreditation of your proposed course, but you may be able to use the existing course instead of developing a new one for accreditation. Some course owners agree to share or license their course to interested parties. You can contact the relevant course owner directly to find out if they are willing to license their course to you.

Duplication with existing training packages

Australia has a significant number of nationally endorsed training packages, which have been designed to meet the needs of an industry or group of industries and include qualifications, units of competency and non-endorsed skill sets. Endorsed training packages are available on the National Training Register: training.gov.au.

As per Standard 9, ASQA is unable to accredit a course that duplicates by title or coverage the outcomes of an endorsed training package, including qualifications, skill sets and units of competency. Refer below for more details.

Qualifications

Training packages often provide students with flexibility in the units of competency needed to gain a qualification. For example, the packaging rules, which set out what units of competency are needed to gain a particular qualification, may allow students to choose electives from another training package or accredited course.

It is important to take this flexibility into account when checking to make sure your proposed course does not duplicate existing training package outcomes.

ASQA cannot accredit a course if:

• it provides the same outcomes that students could achieve through the packaging rules of a training package or accredited course, e.g. undertaking electives from another course;
• it is a skill set or subset of a single training package qualification that could be recognised through a statement of attainment (i.e. partial completion of the existing qualification);
• it duplicates a training package qualification and includes additional units of competency from a training package or accredited course that could be recognised through a statement of attainment.

Units of competency

Training package units of competency often address transferrable skills that can be used across a range of different contexts and courses. For example, a communication unit from the BSB Business Services Training Package could be used in many different qualifications or courses. The training provider can then deliver the unit within the relevant context of their course or industry, while still maintaining the unit’s integrity.

Some training package implementation guides include rules that advise training providers how to contextualise training and assessment of units of competency from that package.

The ‘application’ section of a training package unit of competency, published on the National Training Register, may also include information on whether the unit is suitable for cross-sector training and assessment.

As units of competency are transferable, ASQA cannot accredit a new unit of competency if it duplicates an existing unit of competency. Course developers must provide evidence that they have undertaken research and determined that existing units of competency don’t contain the transferrable skills required to address the specific context of their proposed unit/s.

Jobs and Skills Councils

Nationally endorsed training packages are created and managed by Jobs and Skills Councils. The Jobs and Skills Councils (JSCs) are not-for-profit companies that are industry-owned and industry-led and are funded by the Commonwealth government through the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR).

Each JSC represents specific industries, and they are responsible for workforce planning, industry stewardship and developing and managing national training packages available on the National Training Register. More information: Jobs and Skills Councils.

ASQA-initiated cancellation

If a nationally endorsed training package is released on the National Training Register and it duplicates or subsumes an approved accredited course, the accredited course will no longer meet the requirements for Standard 9. In this situation ASQA is required to contact the course owner and commence an ASQA initiated cancellation of the accredited course.

This is further reason why ASQA recommends engagement with Job and Skills Councils during course development. This provides JSCs the opportunity to share information about future training package development activities that may impact the long-term viability of an accredited course.
 

Queensland Mines Rescue Service Limited would like to develop a course in Underground Coal Mines Emergency Response and Rescue.

The organisation reviews the National Register to identify qualifications, skills sets and units of competency that may achieve the same outcome. It finds the following products that require further investigation.

Qualifications

• RII30719 Certificate III in Emergency Response and Rescue

Units of competency:

• HLTAID011 Provide first aid
• PUATES001 Work in a team
• RIIERR302E Respond to local emergencies and incidents
• RIIERR201E Conduct fire team operations
• PUAFIR207 Operate breathing apparatus open circuit
• RIIERR303E Operate in self-contained regenerative oxygen breathing apparatus
• RIIERR305E Control underground fires
• RIIERR306E Conduct underground searches
• RIIEERR307E Extricate casualties from underground incidents
• RIIERR309D Establish and operate from fresh air base

Queensland Mines Rescue Service Limited conducts a thorough investigation into whether the training package qualification is a suitable training product to meet its needs, but identifies the qualification does not address the specialist skills and knowledge required by emergency response team members in an underground coal mine environment.

The organisation determines that the training package units of competency relate to the intended outcomes of its proposed course and are suitable for inclusion. But it also identified that some additional units (enterprise units) specifically related to underground coal mine response and rescue needed to be developed.

Once Queensland Mines Rescue Service Limited have developed the packaging rules for the course, it continues with its consultation and validation activities to confirm the proposed course does not duplicate training package outcomes. The organisation conducted consultation and validation activities including reviewing and gathering feedback on the course content from the relevant IRC (precursor to Jobs and Skills Council) and key stakeholders including major employers, union representatives and industry regulators. As a result the organisation restructured the course, removing some units and developing new ones. The organisation provided evidence of these activities in the form of copies of emails, minutes of meetings, letters of support, marked- up copies of the course description including enterprise units of competency showing suggested changes. 

Note: This case is modelled on the current accredited course 10876NAT Certificate III in Underground Coal Mines Emergency Response and Rescue. The course owner, Queensland Mines Rescue Service Limited granted permission for ASQA to use this information.

Additional resources

• Training.gov.au – the register of nationally endorsed training package qualifications, units of competency and accredited courses in Australia.
• Appendix 5: Jobs and Skills Councils
• More information on Jobs and Skills Councils